The Giusti Garden is located in the center of Verona, in the historic Veronetta district. It is one of the finest examples of a late Renaissance Italian Garden in Europe.
At the end of the 14th century, the Giusti family moved to Verona from Tuscany to develop the wool dyeing industry.
In 1405, Provolo Giusti purchased an area near the ancient walls of Verona, near the ancient Via Postumia, the main east-west link in northern Italy. For nearly two centuries, the gardens were used for industrial purposes, with cauldrons used to process wool.
With the spread of the Grand Tour throughout Europe in the 18th century, the Giusti Garden became a must-see for all the great travelers passing through Verona, such as Goethe, Cosimo III, Mozart, Ruskin, Emperor Joseph II, King Charles Felix of Sardinia, and Tsar Alexander of Russia.
The Garden has been preserved to its former splendor, with the simplicity of gardens of times past that emphasized architecture, mythology, and connections to the classical world, with few flowers and exotic trees.
The atmosphere of sixteenth-century gardens is still present, with fashionable features such as vases of citrus trees, grottoes, Roman relics, citrus groves, statues, and fountains.
Located at the entrance was Goethe’s cypress, so named because the poet mentioned it in his “Italian Journey” of 1817. In 2020, during a violent storm that struck Verona, the ancient cypress was uprooted along with many other centuries-old trees.
The avenue of cypresses climbs to a stalactite cave, dominated by a “mask” constructed to spew tongues of fire from its mouth. From the belvedere, one of the most beautiful views of Verona can be enjoyed.
The Garden still serves as a backdrop to Palazzo Giusti.
Building was transformed into a stately home during the 16th century by Agostino Giusti, Knight of the Venetian Republic and Gentleman of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The façade of the palace features a large entrance door with the Giusti family crest, flanked by two unframed tuff windows.
The main floor of the palace is divided into two large apartments and a central hall.
In the fireplace room, four busts are displayed: two in marble (an allegory of feminine virtue and a Venetian senator) and two in plaster with allegorical meaning (Diana and Apollo).
The horse room is dedicated to the theme of horses, with horseshoe-shaped furniture.
Hall of Dawn is richly decorated and frescoed, dominated by the color gold and numerous mirrors. The room is named for the 1766 fresco on the ceiling.
